Starter build

[Shakavkav.4396]

I been playing pof by now on my mesmer but i decided to get hot now and reroll to a necro. I want to go back first and do the hot story, get the reaper elite, gliding and all the sweet stuff that i missed in hot. Somehow i find necro more confusing then the mesmer regarding the mechanics, build, traits. So what i would really like is a example build (power or condi) so i can do hot until i get to reaper. Atm i have rabid gear that i got from boosting. Thank you in advance.

[Anchoku.8142]

For a newly-boosted Necromancer searching HoT for hero points, try something like this condi-minionmancer.

 

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBLhZakhGaqx2awrGYvxRwQRvitoJknQK80xkOAiAA-jxRAABYoEMKlfTt/wg6DA4JA0xpAQI1fAA-e

 

You should be able to get through the heart of Maguma like this, though slowly and with help.

 

Once you have Reaper fully trained, change your build entirely and learn a power-shout build using berserker/valkyrie greatsword/axe and a full bar of shouts - no minions. It will play very differently.

 

Take a break when you like and play zerg support in WvW swapping war horn for dagger, two minions for Well of Suffering and Well of Corruption, and exchanging Death Magic for Blood Magic traiting dagger and wells.

[Shakavkav.4396]

Forgot to say, i do not like pets :)

[Anchoku.8142]

You will find HoT easier with them while learning.

 

This may be an alternative but it will not be easy.

 

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNArYWjc0QzNWZDe3A/NOMGq4PHAbLtJiihQO0VQRD-jBSAABEqJon9HiS5HAPBAhU/ZG9AYoEsjTBAA-e

 

 

[Aetatis.5418]

without reaper - power seems to be easier tbh.

soul reaping traitline with the sweet 50% crit chance in shroud. i always recommend it while leveling (which you do not have to do anymore) because bursting with power is a lot faster and core necro doesnt have that big potential of killing something rather quickly with conditions (compared to shout reaper).

besides that, soul-reaping offers perma swiftness without using the signet of the locust (one more slot to have something with more dmg potential) - just tap in deathshroud and 0.5ec after tap out of it while traveling = perma swiftness

 

but play what you like more. there have been several topics on the forums in the last two weeks. some research would have gotten you plenty of answers already. and everybody got his own opinion (just mentioning it. its your decision in the end. some opinions/builds are more effieciency focused. some are not)

 

have a look at this thread too

https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/11827/new-lvl80-necro-player

 

> @Anchoku.8142 said:

> For a newly-boosted Necromancer searching HoT for hero points, try something like this condi-minionmancer.

>

> http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBLhZakhGaqx2awrGYvxRwQRvitoJknQK80xkOAiAA-jxRAABYoEMKlfTt/wg6DA4JA0xpAQI1fAA-e

>

> You should be able to get through the heart of Maguma like this, though slowly and with help.

>

> Once you have Reaper fully trained, change your build entirely and learn a power-hungry build using berserker/valkyrie greatsword/axe and a full bar of shouts - no minions. It will play very differently.

>

> Take a break when you like and play zerg support in WvW swapping war horn for dagger, two minions for Well of Suffering and Well of Corruption, and exchanging Death Magic for Blood Magic traiting dagger and wells.

 

full shouts on power feels underwhelming. full shouts with the superior rune of the reaper and condition dmg feels a lot (!!) more powerful. survival due to curses %cond-dmg into heal is awesome when you constantly pull 5+ mobs and chill-bleed-shout the stuff out of them - if you dont feel like using your weapon too much, kite them/wait for them to die anyway.

[Anchoku.8142]

^

Rune of the Reaper was inexpensive when I last checked. Build a shout Reaper with chill duration. The chill output is your secondary defense after shroud. Either power or hybrid (condi-Reaper) will work. HoT mobs are more dangerous than core area mobs.

 

You will need new equipment to make a power build work and viper's stat's for condi-Reaper.

[Aetatis.5418]

as a starter... you dont need viper asap. you need viper for raids, fractals... but its completely fine to use relatively cheap condition gear. it doesnt really matter for open world.

if you want to be more effective, sure go vipers - but thats automatically rolling in after a while. don stress it too much

[Shakavkav.4396]

Thanks guys, it helped me out and now i am a reaper :) /cheer, i will start on the pof story and start doing low lvl fractals. Something i been thinking about is, would reaper be good as a power build, i know condi might be better but condi requires a good rotation and higher gear that atm i do not have. On the other hand power build delivered the numbers instantly, so i want to roll as a power reaper, any build that you can recommend?

Another thing i seen some power build using mostly valkyrie stats, i dont have the crafted gear yet, but i would buy exotic gear of the trade, what would be an alternative for the valkyrie , maybe a mix of berserker and some other defensive stats? kinda the same thing i did with my mesmer, instead of vipers i did not have i used rabid and it worked ok. ty again

[Aetatis.5418]

> @Shakavkav.4396 said:

> Thanks guys, it helped me out and now i am a reaper :) /cheer, i will start on the pof story and start doing low lvl fractals. Something i been thinking about is, would reaper be good as a power build, i know condi might be better but condi requires a good rotation and higher gear that atm i do not have. On the other hand power build delivered the numbers instantly, so i want to roll as a power reaper, any build that you can recommend?

> Another thing i seen some power build using mostly valkyrie stats, i dont have the crafted gear yet, but i would buy exotic gear of the trade, what would be an alternative for the valkyrie , maybe a mix of berserker and some other defensive stats? kinda the same thing i did with my mesmer, instead of vipers i did not have i used rabid and it worked ok. ty again

 

power has big flaws. but i like it aswell.

 

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBhODbkhGapx2awxGYvxCugNN2aCVBoBQAoFEfF/ijRA-jlRBABUq+zDXEAAeCA4pb4q9HlfmpEMAwBw5nn5NP48zP/8zPvmf+5nf+5nf+5nXKgIWGB-w

 

thats the most potent it can get atm.

some berserkes gear can be switched to valkyrie for some extra hp and shroud, without losing much power (sharpening stones scale off of precision. less precision for more hp yields about 30-40 less power). for fractals and less organized pve i would not recommend too much valkyrie. a minimum of 30% crit chance is what you really want.

with decimate defense (reaper, middle trait 3) in more organized groups on the other hand... well you are overcapping crit.

note: valkyrie is NOT better than berserker anymore. ever since the food-change -> the oil that transformed 10% vita in ferocity does not exist anymore!!!

 

edit: change "blood bond" to "ritual of life", if people down very quickly, since it rezzes ~35% even if you continue to do dmg.

 

idea is AA on GS, nightfall on cd, well of suffering on cd, shadow fiend utility on cd, gravedigger on cd. enemy below 50% gravedigger-oh-copter.

be careful not to interupt the first 2 hits of AA with the GS when you use utilit skills. the third hit can be interupted, when done very quickly. not necessary tho, since the dmg will be equal-ish anyway.

oh shit button = reaper shroud.

ranged = axe (some fractals require ranged options).

 

blood magic can be changed to soul reaping if you feel more comfortable (solo parts in fractals) and yields about 400-500 more personal dps - but a lot less sustain and a minor decrease in party-dmg (which would be equal-ish to what you gain as personal dps with soul reaping).

 

i've heard suggestions about a actualy rotation with axe 2 and soul-reaping(reapershroud AA) with dhuumfire. but personally i could never get any more dps out of it, its more complicated and not too good to sustain in an actual fight with movement etc.

 

 

 

[Meetshield.1756]

I think I had the most fun with Marauders in PVE, but Vipers / Runes of the Krait and BItter chill, with Curses / Soul Reaping, will devistate the Open World environment. Cele builds are also viable, a good balance with only healing wasted on Reaper. No matter what you do on Reaper you will be a god walking the open world PVE streets. You will Carry the Meta events, and need very little healing. A few dodges and positioning and you are fine. Even on full glass you have F1 emergency to go into "Distortion" mode to relate it to a Mesmer. The big problem with Necro is mobility, and Reaper has some, but you don't really have to worry about Tanking or doing damage as you are built for it. Only in WvW and PvP does your mobility issues start to become apparent and problematic.

 

If you are into doing even less work, and having everything Die around you while being virtually invulnerable. Go for Death Magic + Blood Magic, and a full minion build with any armor set really. You will get so much life steal from the minions that you will hardly ever drop below 100% health. Possibly Scholar runes and a power build would be good with this. The minions aren't "Pets" they are damage sponges like Mesmer Illusions. Only they heal you and apply conditions if you give them a try.

 

Finally once you reach the point that you are ready to graduate to high level play. You go Full Glass Viper Shout-Mancer. You use Staff / Greatsword, and you find the scariest mosters in the game, and you Leap onto them and use your cooldowns / dodges / condi transfers and shouts to keep you alive.

[Anchoku.8142]

For open world, Reaper is good. Chill works well on trash mobs and is your best defense after shroud. Against bosses with Defiance the story is different and chill becomes useless.

[Meetshield.1756]

No way man, Chill stacks Duration and directly impacts the defiance bar. I mean its not as good as Fear, but its certainly not useless. And stacking 36 bleeds in 3-4 seconds on a boss is not useless. 4.5k Bleed Ticks with 2.4k poison ticks in 4 seconds? I suppose on a power build the numbers would be lower and yeah don't take the Chill. But a Viper Reaper gets 8k bleed Ticks and 5k Poison ticks and mobs just die instantly to Suffer... Staff 2/3 kills groups of mobs by itself. Sure Boss Mobs are harder, you got to use the Greatsword Nightfall, and let the Blindness tank for you a bit. Also there is a trait to apply Chill on Blind which procs more Bleeds. its like 1.5 years after HOT are we still confused about Reaper, and how it works?

[Anchoku.8142]

Chill becomes useless as a defense mechanic against bosses. There are plenty of other ways (and allies) to work break bars. And you have to select one trait in Reaper to proc bleeds on chill for a sub-par dps raid build where sustain is not as crucial as the other game modes.

 

I understand the numbers you laud but they all come from bleeds while stacked in a group managing buffs and boss hate. Chill versus Defiance does not do much by itself. It is far stronger on players and trash mobs.

 

Power-Reaper in solo open world feels, to me, better than viper's hybrid-Reaper in raids/fractals. In 1.5 years of playing Reaper I do not remember many QQ threads for Power-Reaper performance outside of raiding but I do remember some QQ when chill duration was nerfed, which hit PvP hard.

 

Deathly Chill is the strongest trait in Reaper but using it in a full dps build costs sustain on top of the sustain that chill loses when against a boss largely immune. Deathly Chill is an ugly dps patch for a power-based specialization. It is literally a trade of power and sustain to partly fix poor raid performance - a Band-Aid.

 

If Reaper or core had more power damage, modifiers, or any group utility of value, Deathly Chill would not have to exist. Reaper could raid on its merit as a power specialization.

[Shakavkav.4396]

Wow thank you, compared to the mesmer i played this profession and build hits like a train, much more easyer to play with, only thing i dont get is how tanking works, why do i have the agro always in fractals lets say

 

 

> @Aetatis.5418 said:

> > @Shakavkav.4396 said:

> > Thanks guys, it helped me out and now i am a reaper :) /cheer, i will start on the pof story and start doing low lvl fractals. Something i been thinking about is, would reaper be good as a power build, i know condi might be better but condi requires a good rotation and higher gear that atm i do not have. On the other hand power build delivered the numbers instantly, so i want to roll as a power reaper, any build that you can recommend?

> > Another thing i seen some power build using mostly valkyrie stats, i dont have the crafted gear yet, but i would buy exotic gear of the trade, what would be an alternative for the valkyrie , maybe a mix of berserker and some other defensive stats? kinda the same thing i did with my mesmer, instead of vipers i did not have i used rabid and it worked ok. ty again

>

> power has big flaws. but i like it aswell.

>

> http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vRAQNBhODbkhGapx2awxGYvxCugNN2aCVBoBQAoFEfF/ijRA-jlRBABUq+zDXEAAeCA4pb4q9HlfmpEMAwBw5nn5NP48zP/8zPvmf+5nf+5nf+5nXKgIWGB-w

>

> thats the most potent it can get atm.

> some berserkes gear can be switched to valkyrie for some extra hp and shroud, without losing much power (sharpening stones scale off of precision. less precision for more hp yields about 30-40 less power). for fractals and less organized pve i would not recommend too much valkyrie. a minimum of 30% crit chance is what you really want.

> with decimate defense (reaper, middle trait 3) in more organized groups on the other hand... well you are overcapping crit.

> note: valkyrie is NOT better than berserker anymore. ever since the food-change -> the oil that transformed 10% vita in ferocity does not exist anymore!!!

>

> edit: change "blood bond" to "ritual of life", if people down very quickly, since it rezzes ~35% even if you continue to do dmg.

>

> idea is AA on GS, nightfall on cd, well of suffering on cd, shadow fiend utility on cd, gravedigger on cd. enemy below 50% gravedigger-oh-copter.

> be careful not to interupt the first 2 hits of AA with the GS when you use utilit skills. the third hit can be interupted, when done very quickly. not necessary tho, since the dmg will be equal-ish anyway.

> oh kitten button = reaper shroud.

> ranged = axe (some fractals require ranged options).

>

> blood magic can be changed to soul reaping if you feel more comfortable (solo parts in fractals) and yields about 400-500 more personal dps - but a lot less sustain and a minor decrease in party-dmg (which would be equal-ish to what you gain as personal dps with soul reaping).

>

> i've heard suggestions about a actualy rotation with axe 2 and soul-reaping(reapershroud AA) with dhuumfire. but personally i could never get any more dps out of it, its more complicated and not too good to sustain in an actual fight with movement etc.

>

>

>

 

 

[Aetatis.5418]

aggro in raids is easy - highest toughness.

 

open world, dungeons, fractals.... i have no clue. its not toughness. maybe its rotating between things? like "most dangerous" ... "most cc" ..." most useless". no kitten clue

 

edit:

found something. its more speculation, but it could fit the scheme very well.